Post subject: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 1:31 pm

Joined: June 29th, 2011, 12:56 amPosts: 542Location: Belgium

Now that took quite some more work than I anticipated....

Here it is – add this to viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9418 and you have all the snakes of Europe (excluding former Soviet States), as found by my friends and me over the last 7 years or so.

! ! ! Sorry for the little amount of text and overkill of pictures, but strangely enough I was too lazy to select, once I had compiled them all………Not all (if any…) shots are worth looking at, but at least it gives a comprehensive overview.

worm snake (Typhlops vermicularis)A small, shiny snake, easily mistaken for an earthworm; inconspicuous head and tiny eyes, with a pointy, rather fat tail-end to fool predators as a false head. Largely subterraneous, feeding on small invertebrates like ants, termites, .... Restricted to extreme southern SE Europe, occurring in Greece, S Bulgaria, FYROM, Albania, Montenegro and S Croatia. A photographer’s nightmare, its small size making it hard to handle and its dislike of daylight causing it to fidget without end.

ERYCIDAE (sand boas)

Sand Boa (Eryx jaculus)Short, fat snake, with poorly pronounced head and rather blunt tail. Pelvic girdle shows tiny remains of hind legs. Lives largely below the surface, for which it has a strong rostral scale, but also exploits existing rodent burrows, feeding in part on its original constructors. Can be found above ground, but usually found under semi-submerged stones in loose soil.

COLUBRIDAE (colubrids)

The next genera – Hierophis, Hemorrhois, Dolichophis, Platyceps - were formerly part of the genus Coluber (in Europe commonly assigned as whip snakes). All are very fast moving, active hunters and bite fiercely when handled. Usually rather abundant in suitable habitat. Members of the 3 first genera are more less parapatric, with one replacing the other in a comparable niche, in different parts of Europe.

Horse-shoe Whip Snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis)Abundant snake in most of Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many pictures of it (yet), since I have been travelling not that often in its range as in other parts of Europe.

subadult from Andalucia, S Spainjuvenile from Andalucia, S Spain

Algerian Whip Snake (Hemorrhois algirus)Originating from N Africa, this species has been introduced to the capital of Malta during WW I. Nowadays, still restricted to gardens and wasteland areas in the capital area, with the rest of the island being occupied by the western whip snake (see above).

that’s what you get…herpers in habitat

Coin-marked Snake (Hemorrhois nummifer)Presence not really confirmed from European soil, with unconfirmed citings from Turkish Thrace (= European Turkey) and present on Asian Greek islands.

especially young have clear markings

Caspian Whip Snake (Dolichophis caspius)Gets quite big (2m and more). The main land-based snake of the eastern parts of SE Europe, occurring in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, but also Montenegro, Serbia, and even as for north as Hungary.

Reddish Whip Snake (Platyceps collaris)Like previous (former subspecies), but in Europe only in very small area in Bulgaria and (?)European Turkey. Small, but beautiful and fast as lightning.

individual with (rather rare) interrupted dark neck saddle spot

Masked Dwarf Snake (Eirenis modestus)Presence not really confirmed from European soil, with unconfirmed citings from Turkish Thrace (= European Turkey) and present on Asian Greek islands. Small and rather inconspicuous.

The next genera – Elaphe, Rhinechis, Zamenis - were formerly part of the larger genus Elaphe (rat snakes). Usually more secretive than the Coluber s.l. species.

Four-lined Snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata)Occurs in the western half of SE Europe (Croatia, Greece, …) but also locally in Italy. Quite big and strong built, but usually very calm when handled. Adults striped, young ones blotched

Blotched Snake (Elaphe sauromates)Used to be subspecies of the former, but occurs in the eastern half of SE Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and further east). Remains blotched, also as adult, and more bity.

Dice Snake (Natrix tessellata)The SE European counterpart of the previous species – very aquatic and feeds largely on fish. Often not very beautiful. With the added anal gland smell, this is a species you don’t catch for fun, once you’ve seen enough…

Rear-fanged, venomous. Big, can actively hunt big lizard, small mammals, … Can sound like a tyre loosing air for hours and act cobra-like. Head with raised “eyebrows”, which cover glands which secrete pheromones and a substance which prevents evaporation of moisture, allowing these snakes to be active in hot weather. Surprisingly, I don’t have that many shots of these “trash snakes”, commonly found on rodent-rich rubbish dumps etc.

Western Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessulanus)

juvenilemight have an Ocellated Lizard (Timon lepidus) inside. Males of the Western species typically have a dark collar behind the first part of the body.juvenile found in winter

Eastern Montpellier Snake (Malpolon insignitus)

juvenilecobra manners...

Last edited by Jeroen Speybroeck on August 21st, 2014, 7:24 am, edited 3 times in total.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 3:37 pm

Joined: June 11th, 2010, 8:09 pmPosts: 513Location: Edmonton, Alberta

That is a very sweet post, thank you. Question: Is this all the snakes of Europe, or all the ones that you have found? I'm unfamiliar with Europe, but to find all the species in 7 years must have been no small feat. I can't imagine someone finding all the species in the US in 7 years let alone an entire continent.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 10:43 pm

Joined: June 29th, 2011, 12:56 amPosts: 542Location: Belgium

Thanks, all!

These are in fact all the snake species there are in Europe, excluding only 2 or so which are restricted to the territory of former Soviet states (Vipera renardi, Elaphe dione). Depending on how you define Europe's borders, some more if you include the Caucasus (which I don't, as it is considered a biogeographical boundary to the southeast, together with the Ural mnts to the east).

This also means that there are obviously far less species in Europe than in the US. This is traditionally linked to presence of east-west oriented mountain chains, acting as barriers for southward refugial migration during glaciations.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 11th, 2012, 5:51 am

Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:51 amPosts: 191Location: Chicago, Illinois

Quote:

This also means that there are obviously far less species in Europe than in the US. This is traditionally linked to presence of east-west oriented mountain chains, acting as barriers for southward refugial migration during glaciations.

This is a very interesting point.

Your post is not the kind of post that one can just glance at and move one. I will want to take some time to review this post again and perhaps again to try an digest it. It's kind of like trying to see El Prado in one day. Amazing!

Also, my great grandfather's family came from Begium--last name Huberty. I have always wanted to go there.

Very nice work, Jeroen! The sand boas are the best. I don't know if we've ever had wild E. jaculus posted on here, come to think of it. The Montpelier Snakes are pretty sweet too, I didn't realize there were two species.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 12th, 2012, 8:02 am

Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:06 amPosts: 737Location: Montana

Un-friggin'-real! I won't comment separately on the Vipers post, but I'll tell you now - these are OUTSTANDING posts! I've never had the even the slightest desire to visit Europe until your posts. The variation in the Natrix is awesome and I am, as others have mentioned, in awe of the convergent and parallel evolution seen between our continents. Beautiful.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 12th, 2012, 9:01 am

Joined: June 7th, 2010, 3:44 pmPosts: 2637Location: Ventura, CA

Kent wrote:

I find it impossible to not be impressed with convergent evolution - so many of those of have dead ringers in North America.

Likewise Kent ...and one would certainly assume close linneage but according to R. Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink, Guarino R. Colli, Adrian Nieto Montes de Oca, Laurie J. Vitt,Caitlin A. Kuczynski, John J. Wiens that would appear not to be the case.

Of course I remain suspicious of these findings as do many of us. In my case only as there are so many conflicts with assumptions based on phenotypical expression and this is a relatively new science which may well require refinement.

Post subject: Re: all snake species of Europe - an overview in photographs

Posted: January 14th, 2012, 1:59 am

Joined: June 29th, 2011, 12:56 amPosts: 542Location: Belgium

Thanks everyone!

jonathan wrote:

Amazing post. Especially liked the sand boa. What countries have you found them in?

I have only seen 4 so far, all in Greece (incl. 1 island observation), although there are a few good spots in S Bulgaria too. While you can often flip rocks for days, there are a couple of places with better chances. Never been to FYROM. No sightings in Romania since 1986. We actually herped at the site of that '86 sighting, but no luck. Probably they're still around, but large-scale agriculture is taking up huge parts of the Black Sea coast of Romania, and as such also a lot of terrain with loose, boa-friendly soil.

Amazing series of posts. I, like many here apparently, don't have much desire to visit Europe but these posts have altered my opinion on that. Of course, the amount of time and travel necessary to find all of these was ridiculous I'm sure.

monklet wrote:

Kent wrote:

I find it impossible to not be impressed with convergent evolution - so many of those of have dead ringers in North America.

Likewise Kent ...and one would certainly assume close linneage but according to R. Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink, Guarino R. Colli, Adrian Nieto Montes de Oca, Laurie J. Vitt,Caitlin A. Kuczynski, John J. Wiens that would appear not to be the case.

Of course I remain suspicious of these findings as do many of us. In my case only as there are so many conflicts with assumptions based on phenotypical expression and this is a relatively new science which may well require refinement.

Remain suspicious, huh? Say what you want about North American ratsnakes and kingsnakes but I don't think there is much question about these similar European and NA species not being closely related. Do you assume that green tree pythons and emerald tree boas are closely related due to their similar appearance? It's convergent evolution (similar traits in unrelated lineages) as Kent said, due to similar selection pressure from occupying similar habitats, feeding on similar prey, etc.